This invention relates to color-coded melody text and a method for teaching melodies. The invention has particular application with respect to singing or chanting religious or liturgical texts which form part of the services in a Jewish synagogue or temple.
Color-coding and/or other types of coding of text are well known, especially in the area of teaching reading to young learners. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,159 (Tehan) teaches that various visual indicator members are provided to represent vowel letters and consonant letters of various types, with each visual indicator having a unique color characteristic. U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,577 (Marryman) discloses and invention which is intended to help an early or beginning reader learn how to associate basic sounds of consonants and vowels by using a visual code.
Among other patents using color as a teaching method, U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,284 (Skellings) uses high speed electrical processing means such as a microcomputer system for generating the language text and color emphasis, as well as the interrelationship therebetween. U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,812 (Novak) uses a color coded system for letters of the English alphabet, and this is intended to help readers in the pronunciation and reading of various words. U.S. Pat. No. 683,267 (Froehlich) teaches reading by having the syllables of a word appearing in contrasting colors.
Different methods for teaching music, although not using color specifically, are set out in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,045,363, 5,651,678 and 3,974,733. U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,409 uses color as a teaching device for properly locating fingerboard and notation regions.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of teaching a melody for a series of words to be sung, the melody and words being comprised at least in part of a series of repetitive tropes each having a predetermined tune, the method comprising: selecting a first trope in the melody and isolating each occurrence of the first trope in the melody; highlighting each occurrence of the first trope in the melody with a distinctive first color; and selecting and highlighting with a distinctive different colors each occurrence of at least one other trope in the melody so that the first and other tropes will stand out from surrounding tropes in the melody. In one form, the series of words comprise sacred text from the Torah, Haftorah and/or Megillot.
Preferably, each trope is highlighting by placing it on a background of a contrasting color. Further, all common tropes may be isolated and highlighted, each trope being highlighted with a different color.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a visually enhanced teaching text comprising a series of words to be sung, the series of words having a plurality of tropes each having a predetermined tune, symbols in the text indicative of the start and end of a trope, at least some of the tropes being associated with a particular distinctive color so that each trope in the series of words is clearly distinguishable from surrounding tropes therein.
The text within a trope may be highlighted by providing a contrast color background; the text within a trope may be comprised of a particular color; and/or the text may be comprised of an outline or border and the inside of the outline is filled with a selected color.
The teaching text may further comprise an associated musical score sheet comprising the tune of a trope in musical notation form and color codings thereon corresponding to the distinctive color used in the text.
In one form, the text is a sacred text selected from one or more of the Torah, Haftorah, and Megillot. The text may be contained within a book, the text comprising appropriate portions from the Torah, Haftorah, and/or Megillot for a specific Jewish Sabbath or Holiday.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of visually illustrating the melody of a text comprising a series of words to be sung, the words being comprised at least in part of a series of repetitive tropes with each trope having a predetermined tune, the method comprising: selecting a first trope in the melody and isolating each occurrence of the first trope in the melody; highlighting each occurrence of the first trope in the melody with a distinctive color; and selecting and highlighting with a distinctive color at least one other trope in the melody so that the first and each other trope will stand out from surrounding tropes in the melody.
In one aspect, this invention is directed toward the teaching of songs and melodies by color-coding various words and phrases in a text, with each color representing a specific tune. The invention has a particular application and use in the teaching of young Jewish students in their training for Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah. It will, however, be appreciated that the invention is not intended to be limited to this specific application.
In the Jewish religion, there are certain sacred texts which are read during temple and synagogue services throughout the year. Some of the most important of these texts are: the xe2x80x9cTorahxe2x80x9d, which consists of the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible (the five Books of Moses) and constitutes the holiest writings of Judaism; the xe2x80x9cHaftorahxe2x80x9d, which comprises various passages from the Book of the Prophets in the Old Testament; and the five xe2x80x9cMegillotxe2x80x9d (the five special readings from Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Lamentations) On each Sabbath and Holiday day during the year, a particular portion from the Torah is read during services. Furthermore, each Torah portion has an associated Haftorah, which is read on the same day. Following the ancient traditions, the entire Torah is read, in portions, over a period of a year, or every three years (triennial cycle) and, at the end thereof, the cycle is repeated.
It is traditional for every young Jewish boy or girl undergoing Bar or Bat Mitzvah (Bar Mitzvah is for the male and means xe2x80x9cson of the lawxe2x80x9d, while Bat Mitzvah is for the female and means xe2x80x9cdaughter of the lawxe2x80x9d) to read at least a part of the selected Torah and Haftorah portion for the particular Sabbath or Holiday on which the Bar or Bat Mitzvah occurs. These portions are not simply read, but are chanted or sung in a tune consisting of repetitive sections. These repetitive sections are called xe2x80x9ctropesxe2x80x9d. In this specification, therefore, a xe2x80x9ctropexe2x80x9d is intended to mean a word, words or a phrase which are sung in a certain tune or melody.
Certain texts of the Torah, Haftorah and Megillot all have designated tropes written in as part thereof, and the text therefore comprises a specific tune which is the sum total of the tropes making up that text. In the text, the tropes are represented by notational symbols adjacent or associated with the words, so that an experienced singer, or cantor, can easily sing the text by reading these notational symbols.
However, the task is much more difficult for young boys and girls who may also be not fully fluent in reading the Hebrew text. Thus, for a young reader, not only do the Hebrew words have to be read, but the notational symbols must also be processed so that the Hebrew words can be chanted according to the melody designated by the tropes.
It should be mentioned at this point that a notational symbol representing a particular trope will typically have the same melody from one place to another, i.e. cantors or choirs in different communities and even countries will sing a trope melody with substantially the same tune. However, it is possible that disparate groups of Jews, or congregations, may sing a particular trope in a slightly different (or even very different) tune from others. The important point is that, in any one congregation or place, when a notational symbol for a particular trope appears in the Hebrew text, this trope is always sung in the same repetitive tune by that singer.
This invention is therefore directed at facilitating the teaching process for persons learning Hebrew reading and the chanting of the text by color-coding each trope so that it will stand out and be easily distinguishable to the reader, without having to locate and identify the notational symbols of the trope. This is desirable, especially for the novice, since the notational symbol(s) for the trope are often similar to the vowels in Hebrew text, making them more difficult to identify and read.
Although this invention has a particularly useful application in teaching the chant of the sacred Hebrew texts of the Jewish religion, it is, in principle, equally applicable to teaching melody in any song or chant which is comprised of a series of repetitive melodic segments, each of substantially similar tune. Thus, the color-coding and/or highlighting method, as well as the resulting text produced thereby, may be used to teach the chant of texts in other religious liturgies, as well as ancient and modern songs.
The detailed embodiments of the invention set out below will be described with reference to the Hebrew text, but, as mentioned above, the principles will apply equally well in teaching any song with repetitive segments of substantially the same melody.